Blossoms over Boston

Mark Herz spoke with mental performance coach and Northeastern University lecturer, Grayson Kimball, who’s been running marathons on and off for the last 25 years. What follows is a lightly edited transcript.

The writer holds a doctoral degree in mass communications and is an associate professor of journalism and media innovation at Northeastern University.

Brooke Foucault Welles, a professor of communication studies at Northeastern University who has studied “hashtag activism,” said online campaigns and slogans can frame the public’s thinking about divisive topics, noting that #SendBarron seems to be an attempt by some to call attention to “the class tensions around wars and the military.”

Etai Mizrav, a professor of education policy at Northeastern University, said the systemwide decline “tells us that families across the District, not just in one neighborhood or one type of school, are making different choices about public education than they were a year ago.”